April 20, 2015
Uzavtosanoat implements projects for US$381.5m.. 2
Uzbekenergo to launch 8 energy objects in 2015. 2
Tashkent is hosting International Jazz Festival 3
investments
Uzavtosanoat implements projects for US$381.5m
Joint stock company Uzavtosanoat (Uzbek Car Industry) will implement 15 projects with total cost of US$381.5 million in 2015-2019.
The projects will be realized within the programme of measures on ensuring structural reforms, modernization and diversification of production for 2015-2019, approved by the Uzbek President on 4 March 2015
Within the programme, Uzavtosanoat will implement projects on modernization and re-equipment of production capacities of automobile industry.
The project will be financed due to loans of the commercial banks at the size of US$245.3 million and own resources for US$135.9 million.
GM Uzbekistan will spend US$104.2 million to organize production of T250 car (Chevrolet Aveo) in 2015-2016. The capacity of a new line will be 73,600 automobiles a year.
GM Uzbekistan will also direct US$53.8 million to modernize existing capacities on production of spare parts for new model. The enterprise, in particular, will spend US$18.4 million to localize production of Gentra automobile.
Uzavtosanoat will invest US$38.4 million to implementation of project on production of aluminum spare parts for localization of other automobiles with the capacity of 3.2 million units a year.
The enterprise will use US$30 million to project on localization of production at the Uzbek German venture MAN Auto — Uzbekistan in Samarkand region. It is planned to localize truck cabins with the project worth US$16 million. The capacity of the project will be 3,000 cabins a year.
(Source: UzDaily.com)
ENERGETICS
Uzbekenergo to launch 8 energy objects in 2015
State joint stock company Uzbekenergo is planning to commission eight energy objects in 2015, the press service of the company said.
In line with the presidential resolution “On investment programme of Uzbekistan for 2015”, the company will implement 26 objects and commission 8 energy objects.
Within the project “Expansion of Talimarjan thermal power station with construction of two 450-megawatt combined cycle power plants”, the construction and assembly works underways. The works on installation of metal constructions and modules of utilization boilers, transformers and power transformers are underway. The equipments for combined cycle power plants and power transformers were shipped and will arrive in Uzbekistan soon.
Within the project on construction at Angren thermal power station of power unit with the capacity of 130 – 150 MW with thermalclamping for use of coal, the company said that construction-assembly works are underway at main corpus, boiler, turbine shop, chemical water treatment building, chimney, etc.
Uzbekenergo is also implementing a project on construction of thermal power station with the capacity of 900 MW with two 450-megawatt combined cycle power plants in Turakurgan district of Namangan region. The tender for selection of consultant for project accompaniment of the project was announced. The work son preparation of infrastructure and communications are underway at construction sight.
Supply of the third set of equipment for modernization third power generation unit started within the modernization of generation units of Charvaq hydro power station.
New equipments are supplied within the project on modernization of energy equipment in Southern-Western region with replacement of old equipment. The works on modernization will be completed in 2015.
Uzbekenergo is constructing a solar power station with the capacity of 100 megawatt in Samarkand region. The tender for selection of consultant for project accompaniment was held. Currently, the assessment of technical proposals on selection of general contractor on construction of the station is underway.
Within the modernization of .4-6-10-35 kV electricity distribution networks, the company constructed over 110 km of high voltage lines and installed 109 sets of transformer substations.
Modernization of power units No. 1 and 2 completed within the project “Wide-scale modernization of two power units of Syrdarya thermal station” was completed. The capacities of the power units rose by 25 MW each. The consumption of fuel decreased up to 320 g / KWH.
(Source: UzDaily.com )
Art
Tashkent is hosting International Jazz Festival
The cultural life of the capital city has been literally “blown up” by this fascinating, barnstorming and at the same time romantic musical trend. World-famous jazz bands and jazz soloists have arrived in Uzbekistan, some of them for the first time, some come time and again to our country to get imbued with an unforgettable oriental spirit, and draw inspiration from the atmosphere of Uzbek hospitality and enchanting musical motifs of the Great Silk Road. On the very first day of the festival, immediately after the organizers’ press conference, a series of events kicked off featuring national and international jazz musicians. The organizers shared with Uzbekistan Today how the idea to hold such a grand musical festival was conceived:
“On April 30, the world marks the International Days of Jazz. The International Jazz Festival is being held in Tashkent in commemoration of this date, approved by UNESCO. We worked out an intensive program: concerts, master classes and creative meetings will last for a month. Musicians from India, Latvia, USA, France, as well as Uzbekistan’s jazzmen find a pleasure in rubbing shoulders with the audience – the language of music does not need translation. There is no doubt that such cultural dialog is beneficial for musicians themselves. This festival is an excellent platform for our guests and local performers to exchange ideas, for the youth – to get new knowledge and skills, for spectators – to expand the boundaries of their perception of music,” says rector of the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan, Bakhtiyor Yoqubov.
Saxophone accompaniment, rhythms of percussion instruments and contrabass notes will resound in the leading concert halls of the capital for a whole month… the most traditional melodies are “diluted” with colorful ethno-jazz motifs. Thanks to the efforts of the UNESCO Office and Embassies of India, Latvia, USA and France, Uzbek music aficionados can feast their ears on the elusive combinations of sounds and genres on one stage. Different cultures, different languages, different views and religions recede into the background when people are united by music…
“Jazz is music, which rallies people around it. We are now all participants of a global project; each UN member-state holds undertakings devoted to International Day of Jazz. The main idea of this event is to show jazz in all its diversity and its uniting significance,” noted Krista Pikkat, UNESCO Representative in Uzbekistan.
Ari Roland’s jazz quartet from the USA has already had a creative meeting, two concerts, master classes and a jam session. The musicians are in Uzbekistan for the second time and promise to come back again without fail:
“I really like your audience very much. Now wonder there are a lot of legends about oriental hospitality in America. My friends-musicians in New York asked me what I like most in Uzbekistan. And I said – everything: music, people, air… We visited Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva. We are now having a great time in Tashkent. Your country has conquered my heart, and hopefully, this is not the last meeting,” Ari Roland gushed.
He has been travelling with his group around the world for a long time. The jazz quartet has won acclaim and love across the globe.
The most evident and distinctive feature of each concert, which is held as part of the festival is a live dialog. Thus, for instance, Ari Roland’s group sings Luis Armstrong’s “Wonderful Life” together with the audience, beat time of the Golden Age of Jazz energizing jazz improvisations of the ‘30s, with a pleased smile plays the famous “Andijon Polka” under the storm of applause and enthusiastic exclamations from the audience. The guests from India accompany jazzmen on sitar fusion, mixingthe dynamics of jazz compositions with Indian tunefulness.
Our guys from Jazzirama and musicians of the State Jazz Orchestra of Uzbekistan are accompanying absolutely “neatly” to their foreign guests.
“We position ourselves as musicians playing Uzbek jazz. We started experimenting while we were students of the State Conservatory and having gone a long way of seven years, we ended up with an understanding that we have our own vision of jazz and our own interpretations of Uzbek folk songs. The distinctive feature of ethno-jazz are the trends we are working on and it lies in that we should know well both classical jazz and national music and we know how to combine them. We listen to maqom, which we derive inspiration from, and make use of the nola. We compose music from lazgi, yalla, maior and other melodies.
We collaborate with other jazz groups and place our videos on the Internet. Probably it was thanks to the Internet that our activities in the social networks helped us to take part in the jazz festival in Almaty,” said Saidmurat Muratov, head of Jazzirama group.
It is obvious from the interviews with the participants of the festival that for every one of them such a meeting is an important and memorable trait in the music book of their creative activity. The most accurate expression of the basic idea of those who were lucky enough to become part of a large-scale celebration of jazz music was a statement made by the Ambassador of Latvia in Uzbekistan Edgars Bondars:
“There are a huge number of trends in music, all seven notes stand behind this diversity, and eternity stands behind each note…”
(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)
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